Lorraine Kelly refused 'insulting' offer to merge her show with GMB amid cuts

Daily Mirror

27-05-2025

Lorraine Kelly has, since 2010, presented her self-titled show on ITV, part of the network's morning schedule - but the programme will be cut by 30 minutes from January
Lorraine Kelly reportedly declined an offer by ITV to make merge her daytime show with Good Morning Britain (GMB).
The proposal would have given the TV veteran the opportunity to present the final 30 minutes of GMB, it is understood. As the same format was adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic, bosses reportedly saw the merge as an "easy fix".
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But sources have revealed Lorraine, 65, was "insulted" by the suggestion and told bigwigs it wasn't a possibility, resulting in the reduced runtime of her show from an hour to 30 minutes. It is one of several changes ITV is making to its daytime schedule, including slashing Loose Women from 52 weeks of the year to just 30 - a cut Lorraine also faces.
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Lorraine was pulled into a meeting last week with bosses, and it seems that while there are concerns, she remains focused on her show. A source told the Mirror: "We were very open about the challenges in the industry and so several options were discussed - the key was ensuring Lorraine was retained and was as comfortable as possible in a changing landscape. Her show is still hugely valued - the show recently had its highest audience share in 4 years and still reaches 2.7 million people."
Sources claim that the Scottish star will have to "pull out all the stops" for it to survive. It was announced last week that the programme had been affected by the major shake-up at ITV. It will now air for 30 weeks of the year, rather than all year round. And the duration of the programme has been cut from an hour to just half an hour.
A source said: "Lorraine was not happy about what is happening and also had concern for the production team which will be cut back too. But the truth is she has to roll her sleeves up and work harder on her own show than she has in recent years, otherwise the long-term future does not look good."
"Lorraine was pulled into a meeting with bosses where she was told about Good Morning Britain being taken over by ITN ahead of the public announcement," an insider told Mail Online.
The source added: "It was proposed that her show would merge with GMB so that she presented the last 30 minutes of the broadcast, which is what happened when a reduced team were working during lockdown.
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"But she told them no and said it wasn't even a possibility... fast-forwarded two weeks and the channel announced her show would be cut from an hour to 30 minutes... The entire thing has been an insult and she's certain to leave when the year-long contract ends."
It was confirmed on Tuesday Lorraine, This Morning, and Loose Women will relocate from Television Centre to a new filming location, where they plan to share the same studio. There will be limited time between each show so changing the sets may not be an option, as the output of the programmes will likely suffer, it is now claimed.
A source added: "In January, Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women are moving from Television Centre to a central London location, rumoured to be the Hospital Club in Covent Garden. All three shows will share the same studio, meaning sets will be massively reduced to save space and money.
"At present, This Morning broadcasts from a huge studio within Television Centre and Lorraine and Loose Women share one space. Lorraine's set is flipped once they come off air and Loose Women is put in but the new set up is thought to involve all the shows sharing one space with no set flips in between."
The Mirror has contacted ITV for further comment on the claims bosses tried to reach a deal with Lorraine, a Scottish broadcaster who has presented various television shows for ITV and STV since 1988.